Memorial Honors Suffolk Police Force

May 17, 1989|By GEORGE PAASWELL Staff Writer

SUFFOLK — City and state officials, along with top brass of the police department, gathered at City Hall Tuesday to honor the police force, living and dead.

The memorial ceremony focused on Joseph S. Pratt, the last officer killed in the line of duty in Suffolk, in October 1935. In the keynote speech, Suffolk Del. Samuel Glasscock added his call to honor the 90 police officers serving the city today.

The public "should show a greater appreciation of the police who are risking their lives every day," Glasscock said.

About 30 people, including 16 members of the Pratt family, attended the ceremony, which included an honor guard salute and a presentation of a medal of honor to Joseph V. Pratt, 76, the slain officer's oldest son. In all, the Pratt family was represented by three generations, Pratt said.

Using the event to call for more public assistance in crime fighting, Glasscock urged a "very strong partnership between the public and the police."

"The police are doing their job. It's the public who are not doing theirs," Glasscock said. "If the public as a whole wants to stop the drug traffic, it can do so."

Prayers and condolences were offered from the police to the Pratts through Detective J.J. Marx, who presented Pratt with the medal.

"He was indeed a credit to the police force," Pratt said of his father, adding his thanks for the tribute to the officer.

Vice Mayor S. Christopher Jones echoed Glasscock's statements that current officers be honored as well. Jones also thanked the Pratts for their father's dedication to the force.

Pratt was fatally shot while serving a warrant, and died the following day, according to the son.